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Courses - Spring 2023
AASP
African American Studies Department Site
AASP100
Introduction to African American Studies
Credits: 3
Grad Meth: Reg, P-F, Aud
GenEd: DSHS, DVUP
Significant aspects of the history of African Americans with particular emphasis on the evolution and development of black communities from slavery to the present. Interdisciplinary introduction to social, political, legal and economic roots of contemporary problems faced by blacks in the United States with applications to the lives of other racial and ethnic minorities in the Americas and in other societies.
AASP100H
Introduction to African American Studies
Credits: 3
Grad Meth: Reg, P-F, Aud
GenEd: DSHS, DVUP
Significant aspects of the history of African Americans with particular emphasis on the evolution and development of black communities from slavery to the present. Interdisciplinary introduction to social, political, legal and economic roots of contemporary problems faced by blacks in the United States with applications to the lives of other racial and ethnic minorities in the Americas and in other societies.
Restricted to HONR students only.
AASP101
Public Policy and the Black Community
Credits: 3
Grad Meth: Reg, P-F, Aud
GenEd: DSHS
Formerly: AASP300.
The impact of public policies on the black community and the role of the policy process in affecting the social, economic and political well-being of minorities. Particular attention given to the post-1960 to present era.
AASP187
The New Jim Crow: African-Americans, Mass Incarceration and the Prison Industrial Complex
Credits: 3
Grad Meth: Reg, P-F
GenEd: DSHS, DVUP, SCIS
Recommended: AASP100.
Students will examine the birth of the racial caste system following the abolition of slavery, the parallels between the racial hierarchy of the Jim Crow system and contemporary mass incarceration, and the rise of the prison industrial complex as a multi-billon business which thrives on the oppression of low-income populations and poor communities of color.
AASP200
African Civilization
Credits: 3
Grad Meth: Reg, P-F, Aud
GenEd: DSHU
A survey of African civilizations from 4500 B.C. to present. Analysis of traditional social systems. Discussion of the impact of European colonization on these civilizations. Analysis of the influence of traditional African social systems on modern African institutions as well as discussion of contemporary processes of Africanization.
AASP202
Black Culture in the United States
Credits: 3
Grad Meth: Reg, P-F, Aud
GenEd: DSHS, DVUP
The course examines important aspects of African American life and thought which are reflected in African American literature, drama, music and art. Beginning with the cultural heritage of slavery, the course surveys the changing modes of black creative expression from the 19th-century to the present.
AASP202H
Black Culture in the United States
Credits: 3
Grad Meth: Reg, P-F, Aud
GenEd: DSHS, DVUP
The course examines important aspects of African American life and thought which are reflected in African American literature, drama, music and art. Beginning with the cultural heritage of slavery, the course surveys the changing modes of black creative expression from the 19th-century to the present.
AASP211
Get Out: The Sunken Place of Race Relations in the Post-Racial Era
Credits: 3
Grad Meth: Reg, P-F, Aud
GenEd: DSHS, DVUP, SCIS
Credit only granted for: AASP298G or AASP211.
Formerly: AASP298G.
Prevailing thought suggests that we live in an era that is post-racial, particularly after the election of Barack Obama. Media often serves to drive our assessment of where our nation stands on issues like race, gender and sexuality. This course uses the film Get Out to delve into the production, evolution and significance of race in present day America. The course will engage multiple forms of media to investigate life in "Post-Racial" America, including but not limited to the role of stereotypes, interracial relationships, police-community relations, etc.
AASP255
African-American History, 1865 - Present
Credits: 3
Grad Meth: Reg, P-F, Aud
GenEd: DSHS
Cross-listed with: HIST255.
Credit only granted for: HIST255, AASP255 or AASP298A.
An introductory course in the African-American experience in the United States from 1865 to the present. Topics include the aftermath of the Civil War on US race relations, the rise of segregation, northern migration, World War I and II, Civil Rights Movements, and the Black Power Movement.
AASP263
Introduction to Black Women's Studies
Credits: 3
Grad Meth: Reg, P-F, Aud
Cross-listed with: WGSS263.
Credit only granted for: WMST263, AASP298I, WGSS263 or AASP263.
Formerly: WMST263.
Interdisciplinary exploration of Black women, culture and society in the United States. Drawn primarily from the social sciences and history with complementary material from literature and the arts.
AASP297
Research Methods in African American Studies
Credits: 3
Grad Meth: Reg, P-F, Aud
Prerequisite: AASP101 or AASP202.
Restriction: Must be in African American Studies program.
Credit only granted for: AASP297 or AASP299R.
Formerly: AASP299R.
Introduces African American Studies majors to the basic research skills, methodologies, sources, and repositories for studying African Diaspora. Students will be required to select a research topic, write a research proposal, develop an annotated bibliography, and in the process will be prepared for completing their senior thesis or other significant writing projects necessary to fulfill the requirements of the major.
AASP298L
African-American Literature and Culture
Credits: 3
Grad Meth: Reg, P-F, Aud
GenEd: DSHU, DVUP
Cross-listed with: ENGL234.
Credit only granted for: ENGL234 or AASP298L.
An exploration of the stories black authors tell about themselves, their communities, and the nation as informed by time and place, gender, sexuality, and class. African American perspective themes such as art, childhood, sexuality, marriage, alienation and mortality, as well as representations of slavery, Reconstruction, racial violence and the Nadir, legalized racism and segregation, black patriotism and black ex-patriots, the optimism of integration, and the prospects of a post-racial America.
Cross-listed with ENGL234. Credit granted for AASP298L or ENGL234.
AASP298Z
Special Topics in African American Studies; Jazz as a Cultural Art Form
Credits: 3
Grad Meth: Reg, P-F, Aud
AASP320
Poverty and African American Children
Credits: 3
Grad Meth: Reg, P-F, Aud
Credit only granted for: AASP320 or AASP298P.
Formerly: AASP298P.
The United States has high levels of child poverty compared to other industrialized nations. Poverty rates are particularly high among African American children. This course focuses on how poverty and race intersect to influence the development of children and youth. Specific topics that we will consider include definitions of poverty, theories about the causes of poverty, racial disparities in child poverty, family functioning in the context of poverty, neighborhood influences, risk and protective processes, and social policies and programs designed to mitigate the impact of poverty.
AASP340
Black Existentialism
Credits: 3
Grad Meth: Reg, P-F, Aud
Credit only granted for: AASP340, ENGL368O, PHIL338E, or PHPE308C .
Examines the critical transformation of European existentialist ideas through close readings of black existentialists Aime Cesaire, Frantz Fanon, George Lamming, and Wilson Harris, paired with key essays from Sartre, Camus, and Merleau-Ponty. As well, we will engage black existentialism not just as a series of claims, but also a method, which allows us to read works by African- American writers such as W.E.B. Du Bois, James Baldwin, and Ralph Ellison in an existentialist frame. Lastly, we will consider the matter of how and why existentialism continues to function so centrally in contemporary Africana philosophy.
Cross-listed with PHIL338E and PHPE308C. Credit only granted for AASP340, PHIL338E, or PHPE308C.
AASP386
(Perm Req)
Experiential Learning
Credits: 3 - 6
Grad Meth: Reg, P-F
Restriction: Permission of BSOS-African American Studies department; and junior standing or higher.
AASP395
Fundamentals of Quantitative Research in Socio-Cultural Perspective
Credits: 3
Grad Meth: Reg, P-F, Aud
Restriction: Must be in African American Studies program; and junior standing or higher.
Introduction to quantitative methods for African American Studies majors in the cultural and social analysis concentration. Basics of survey design and experimental design and data analysis and use of statistical software programs.
AASP397
(Perm Req)
Credits: 3
Grad Meth: Reg, P-F, Aud
Restriction: Permission of BSOS-African American Studies department.
Directed research in African American Studies resulting in the completion and defense of a senior thesis.
Contact department for information to register for this course.
AASP398G
Selected Topics in the African Diaspora; Gender, Labor and Racial Indentities in Diaspora Communities
Credits: 3
Grad Meth: Reg, P-F, Aud
This course will expose students to a range of interdisciplinary perspectives, theories, and methodologies for exploring the intersectionality of gender, ethnicity, sexuality, and racial identities in multiple post-emancipation and modern African/Black diaspora communities. The class readings and discussions will examine the interactions and linkages between and among various African diaspora/descendant and native-born African American/Black peoples, from multiple vantage points, in different historical periods and movements in the U.S., Africa, the Caribbean, Latin American and Europe.
AASP398N
Selected Topics in the African Diaspora; Race, Health and Narrative
Credits: 3
Grad Meth: Reg, P-F, Aud
Cross-listed with ENGL368N. Credit only granted for ENGL368N or AASP398N.
AASP398P
Selected Topics in the African Diaspora; Introduction to Pan-Africanism
Credits: 3
Grad Meth: Reg, P-F, Aud
AASP399
(Perm Req)
Research in African-American Studies
Credits: 1 - 3
Grad Meth: Reg, P-F
Contact department for information to register for this course.
AASP400
Directed Readings in African American Studies
Credits: 3
Grad Meth: Reg, P-F, Aud
GenEd: DSHS, DVUP
Prerequisite: AASP202 or AASP100.
The readings will be directed by the faculty of African American Studies. Topics to be covered will be chosen to meet the needs and interests of individual students.
AASP400H
Directed Readings in African American Studies
Credits: 3
Grad Meth: Reg, P-F, Aud
GenEd: DSHS, DVUP
Prerequisite: AASP202 or AASP100.
The readings will be directed by the faculty of African American Studies. Topics to be covered will be chosen to meet the needs and interests of individual students.
AASP478B
Humanities Topics in African American Studies; African-American Literature: From Slavery to Freedom
Credits: 3
Grad Meth: Reg, P-F, Aud
Prerequisite: Two English courses in literature; or permission of ARHU-English department. Also offered as ENGL470. Credit granted for ENGL470 or AASP478B.
AASP478F
Humanities Topics in African American Studies; Black Musical Theatre: Theory and Practice
Credits: 3
Grad Meth: Reg, P-F, Aud
Cross-listed with AMST498M, TDPS408B, and THET608J. Credit only granted for TDPS408B, AASP478F, AMST498M, or THET608J.

What is B/black about Black musical theater? And, how can studying Black variety and musical revues help us shift our understanding of what constitutes "musical theater"? In this performance as research course we will study history and stage scenes and musical numbers using our bodies as learning edges to grasp and define Black musical theater. No musical theater experience necessary.
AASP498B
Special Topics in Black Culture; Black Women's Arts and Culture
Credits: 3
Grad Meth: Reg, P-F, Aud
Cross-listed with WGSS498Z. Credit only granted for WGSS498Z or AASP498B.
AASP498N
Special Topics in Black Culture; Emotional Development of African American Boys
Credits: 3
Grad Meth: Reg, P-F, Aud
This course traces the emotional development of African American boys from birth to adolescence, the constraints on that development imposed by racism and poverty, and the role of family and cultural resources in overcoming those constraints.*
AASP498U
Special Topics in Black Culture; Islam in Africa and the African Diaspora
Credits: 3
Grad Meth: Reg, P-F, Aud
Cross-listed with AASP498U. Credit only granted for ARAB499J or AASP498U.

Taught in English.
AASP499C
Advanced Topics in Public Policy and the Black Community; Race and Reproduction
Credits: 3
Grad Meth: Reg, P-F, Aud
Cross-listed with AMST498E, SOCY498F, SOCY699B, WGSS498R, and WMST698R. Credit only granted for AASP499C, AMST498E, SOCY498F, SOCY699B, WGSS498R, and WMST698R.

This course extends abortion rights and its connection to gender, class and racial politics in which trace from institutionalized racism, colonialism, religion, and gender/racial inequality. Students will develop a historical, contemporary, and comparative understanding of race and reproductive policy. They will connect policing and survelliance within policy formation to witness the power behind bodily and population control on a national and global scale. Students will use data and methodology to examine these issues in policy and practice.
AASP499N
Advanced Topics in Public Policy and the Black Community; News Coverage of Racial Issues
Credits: 3
Grad Meth: Reg, P-F, Aud
Cross-listed with JOUR453. Credit only granted for JOUR453 or AASP499N.
AASP499R
(Perm Req)
Advanced Topics in Public Policy and the Black Community; Black Politics
Credits: 3
Grad Meth: Reg, P-F, Aud
Prerequisite: AASP101 and/or GVPT170. Enrollment is restricted to students in the African American Studies program; and permission of BSOS-African American Studies department. Credit only granted for GVPT479B or AASP499R.

The purpose of this course is to assist students in gaining an understanding of the relationship of people of African descent in the United States to the political system and other structures of power. We critically engage several themes/topics including Black political philosophies and ideologies, electoral politics, Black and mainstream political institutions, political behavior and psychology, gender politics, and public policy. We will also analyze and discuss the informal political spaces that serve as sites for Black politics including social media, entertainment, and pop culture.